Haute Body for Summer

Seattle is not very hot (temperature-wise of course, in terms of “it” factor, Paris Hilton would totally say we were “hot” but that phrase is so two years ago anyway, so I digress). I know a lot of locals would disagree with me on this, especially with the gorgeous and warm weather as of late, but trust me folks, Seattle at its hottest is still nowhere near the cook-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk hot they’ve got elsewhere.

And I like that. I don’t like to sweat while standing still, I don’t like in-window air conditioning units and I don’t appreciate melty chocolate. So my choice to test out the new hot yoga studio in the neighborhood surprised me.

Hot yoga – the room is heated – so basically if you sweat normally huffing and puffing through yoga exercises like I do you can now do many of the same poses while dripping sweat! Just in case your regular sweat was not enough to tell you that you were exerting yourself.

I popped into Queen Anne’s newest yoga studio, Haute Yoga at the top of the hill across from Safeway bewteen Crockett and Boston. It opened in early June and has a summer deal going on right now offering two weeks unlimited yoga for $25 for newbies to the studio. Good deal for yoga lovers testing out a new place, even better deal for yoga non-lovers, since you will want to come back to get your money’s worth. And it is worth it.

They have a lovely single studio space, amazingly quiet for being just feet from the street and having a small patio off the back of the one large room. The room is heated through a collection of heaters lining the upper walls of the room. It’s the kind of heat you’d expect visiting your grandparents in Phoenix. It’s a dry heat (although I don’t really buy that since frankly, I am still sweating my A$$ off, so I am soaking wet), but it is still relatively easy to breath, unlike the heat you’d face visiting grandparents in Florida.

Sean took us through 90 minutes of 26 poses (pushing us in a militant-yogi kind of way – not too mystical, not too personal trainer) a couple of which I had to miss as I stepped outside to avoid passing out (mind you, that was my competitive side, trying to move through the postures like I was auditioning to be a dancer for Madonna’s next tour, so I did it to myself. You’ll be fine).

Stepping back out into the sunny and warm day after the class was downright refreshing and I felt really good after I stopped seeing spots. I do plan on returning to get my money’s worth for the $25 pass, and I might even make it a regular part of my routine.